Beyond the Tunnel
by EtherealShadow
Summary: Beyond the tunnel, there was a town unlike any other; a town whose fate now rests in the hands of Chihiro. But she does not remember anything about her last venture into the world of Spirits, and that could be the world's downfall. Sen/Haku
1. Of School and Breaking Hair Ties

A/N: Whee! Look, it's my first venture into the realm of Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi! *Cheers* I saw the movie last Saturday, bought it last Wednesday, and have now seen it about five times since then lol. It has become my newest favorite movie in the world!

Anyway, in this one, Chihiro doesn't remember a thing. Not like she's forgotten or anything, but she just doesn't remember. That way I get to torture everyone more! *cackles* I have some explanations as to little details at the bottom (like my reasoning as to the time between Chihiro and her parents entering the Spirit World and when they got back). Soooo. It starts off kinda slowly but it'll pick up more soon. I fully plan to develop some of the other parts of the Spirit World better, so yay! But other than that, I really haven't much of a plot . It shall be a Kohaku/Chihiro ficcie though, never fear! (In all honesty, what else _is_ there?)

Disclaimer: As much as I fervently wish that I was, I am not either Hayao Miyazaki-san or Joe Hasaishi-san (he did the music for Sen and Mononoke Hime). Curse it all! Oh, and by the way, I saw someone say that Miyazaki-san did Grave of the Fireflies, and he sure didn't. It was his companion at Studio Ghibli, so the animation style is slightly similar, but it was NOT him ^_^;;

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"Daddy! Mommy!" The scream echoed throughout the world that was quickly becoming illuminated by lamps and signs of all shapes and sizes. Black masses of substance moved all around her, things that shouldn't have existed but did, eyes glaring menacingly.

Her feet flew down the stairs, past the shapes that beckoned to her, called to her without words. Fear made her breathing come ever more quickly. They were all around her now, everywhere she looked, the ethereal creatures. What had moments before been the desolate remains of a theme park were now alive and full of terror to the little girl that ran, screaming her lungs out. "Mommy!"

She ran and ran, remembering the odd boy's demand to get across the river. Almost there… her feet splashed into water. The field that she and her parents had crossed under the bright sun was now a humongous expanse of water, dark as the starless sky that it reflected. And there, where the old red tower was, was a city, glowing with an inhuman light. A city that had not been there before. And a boat out on the water, heading straight for her.

"No way… I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming!" The little girl smashed her fists into her head to dispel what was before her. "Wake up, wake up!" She sank down, huddled on the balls of her feet, rocking back and forth as terror gripped her ever more strongly. "Wake…up… It's just a dream, a dream…" The boat came closer. "Go away, disappear. Disappear, disappear!"

Some instinct made her look up. The boat was close to her now, docking but a few scant feet away. But that was not what was terrifying her. She was see-through. She held her hands up in disbelief, crying out when the brightly lit boat was visible through her body. She rubbed her hands together furiously, trying to make them normal again, to no avail. Throwing her arm in front of her face did not help, it only reminded her of her plight more. "It's a dream, it has to be!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Ogino Chihiro!" A loud voice boomed in her ears.

The girl in question shot up and out of her chair with a cry, eyes flying open. "It's a dream!"

The giggles of her classmates brought her back to the room she stood in- it was Saturday, the last day of classes for the week, and her second to last class. Her English teacher stood, glaring. "Miss Ogino, if you'd _please_ pull yourself away from the land of dreams, we might continue our lesson, hmm?"

Blushing furiously, Chihiro nodded and sank back down into her chair. The dream was fading quickly now, as her dreams always did. All she could remember was running, running so fast, and the fear that coursed through her veins.

"Now, class, back to the lesson. You must never use-" The bell rang out, cutting off the teacher. With an annoyed sigh, she gathered her papers and left the room, giving the students a brief respite between classes.

"Hey Chihiro, what was that all about?" Chihiro's friend Yuna leaned over, taking Chihiro's attention away from the window she had been staring at after she had awoken.

"Huh? Oh, it was just a dream." She smiled.

"Well, at least you didn't fall out of your chair or something," Umi said from Chihiro's other side, grinning. Chihiro giggled. It was great to have good friends.

It had been weird moving to her new home, six years ago. They had taken a wrong path and stopped somewhere to look around. But when they had gotten back to their car, everything was dusty and covered with leaves. But the oddest part was that when they got to their new house, standing out on the corner, vibrant in all its blueness, they found the movers long gone. In fact, the house had been sealed off and Chihiro and her family had been pronounced dead! They had apparently been gone a long time, and none of them had any clue why time seemed to be missing.

It had been hard at first, making new friends. She had been the outcast for a while, the freak who people said consorted with ghosts who had carried her and her family off into the Spirit World for a time. She had spoken to Umi and Yuna quite by accident one time, and they had become solid friends after that.

"Or slapped the teacher!" Yuna exclaimed. "You know, I saw that happen once. Sano was asleep and was dreaming something weird and the teacher was leaning over him and all of a sudden BAM! He slapped his Cram School teacher. That guy wasn't too pleased, let me tell you! Told him he'd never amount to anything and kicked him out!"

"Yuna!" Chihiro giggled. Full of silly stories she was, and always spouting them off at odd moments. Opening her mouth, Chihiro was about to say more, but a light snapping sound cut her off.

Her hair, up in her trademark ponytail, came spilling in brown waves down her back and around her shoulders. With a cry, she reached up and pulled her favorite hairband out of her tresses. It lay in her hands, desolately glittering purple in the fluorescent lighting of the school. She couldn't for the life of her recall where she had gotten it, but she almost never took it off.

She had no clue why, but she felt a sharp twang deep in her heart.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A/N2: Hi again. Boy, am I talking a lot tonight! Sorry lol. But anyway. I had two things to bring up:

1: I know that almost no one knows this, but it's been bugging me throughout all anime fanfiction. Children in Japan go to school Saturday. That means that their weeks are Monday-Satruday. Sucks, doesn't it? And also, there aren't passing periods or anything. The students are assigned a class and they stay there all day, it's the teachers that move from class to class. It's just nice to see these things right lol. There really was no point to me telling you all this, but if I can spread the knowledge, I sure will! Lol :)

2: Okay. I know the time Chihiro spent in the Spirit World is highly debatable. I've seen four days, and I'm assuming that that's the amount of time that was shown in the movie. However, there is no possible way that it could have been that short an amount of time. The proof is when they get back through the tunnel. Before they left, the ground was stone and while grass was trying to grow, it was insignificantly small between the stones. But when they came back, grass covered the entranceway, tall grass. Plants were trying to grow over the tunnel, too. And the car was covered in leaves and dusty. There is no way that all of that could have happened in four days. Go look for yourself at both views ^_^ 

I'm going to shut up now. Have fun and until next time! :-)


	2. Of Picnics and Tunnels

A/N: I made it longer, I really did. I hate to say it, but I'm not one for super long chapters. I'll never just have like three paragraphs or something absurd like that for a chapter though :) So, in this one, Chihiro makes it back to the Spirit World. People shall be coming in in the next chapter, that they shall! Including our beloved Haku! *cheers* So. I'll let you read now ^_^

Oh, and I just wanted to thank everybody for reviewing my story, especially Aria! That made me bounce around happily all day! :-) But that was the most reviews I've ever gotten for a single chapter of anything, much less for the first chapter of a fic, so needless to say, I'm thrilled. And I don't think that anyone is ever going to decide how long Chihiro was in the Spirit World. It's going to become one of the unsolved mysteries of life ^_^;;

Disclaimer: If I owned Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi, I'd be perfecting this story and hiring Miyazaki-san to animate it into a series or sequel or something, that I would. I would not be sitting here writing fanfiction, no siree. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hey Chihiro, you're having a picnic with us," demanded Umi.

"I am?"

"Yes."

"Um, all right then. When?"

"How about…tonight right before the sun sets?" suggested Yuna. "Down the hill from your house, by that neat little grove."

The trio was walking home from school, blessing their lucky stars that it was finally the end of the week. And amazingly, they had a lack of homework that lifted their spirits even more. "Okay then you guys," Chihiro smiled. "I'll see you later, but I have to go now. My mom saw this weird vase in some antique store and decided that I needed to go buy it for her today." The girl rolled her eyes, brushing her hair out of her face.

"See ya Chihiro!" Umi yelled, although Chihiro had only gotten a couple paces away since she had finished speaking.

"You don't have to yell, Umi!" Despite her semi-annoyed tone, she could tell that Umi knew she was joking.

"Of course she does!" Yuna giggled, slinging an arm around Umi's neck and nearly strangling her. "Anyway Chihiro, we'll see you tonight!"

"Later!" Chihiro turned and talked away, smiling as she heard Umi's voice drifting after her on the wind: "And don't forget to bring a ton of food!"

With a shake of her head, Chihiro set about finding the little store that held the vase her mother felt the need to own. Despite her mother's directions, it took her the better part of an hour to find the little place, which ended up being set back from the street and nearly hidden behind newer buildings.

With a sigh, she entered the store. A bell tinkled overhead, and she looked warily at the shelves, most of which were covered with dust. The ancient smell of the place nearly drove her back out into the fresh air, but she forced herself to get in, get the vase, and get back out as quickly as possible. "Hello?" she called, receiving no reply.

It only took her a moment to find the vase that she needed. It sat in an extremely dusty display near the front of the store. It was a pretty vase, Chihiro decided, but it would take massive amounts of cleaning to make it look presentable. Waving her hand in a rather pathetic attempt to bat the masses of dust away, she grabbed it and headed for what looked like it was the cash register, wondering how she was supposed to pay. Being in the deserted store creeped her out a bit.

Something caught her eye as she was turning. A bottle sat on a high shelf. It was a plain glass bottle, filled with some kind of water and it had dirt at the bottom. She didn't know why, but she walked closer. Upon the front was a label with neat handwriting that read, _Water and sand of the Kohaku River_. There was no reason that she should have wanted it. But for some odd reason, her hand reached up and took it from the shelf. She had to stand on a box that was right by the shelf to reach it, and even then it was a stretch. She had just wrapped her fingers around the bottle when the box collapsed under her weight. She grabbed the shelf in an attempt to keep her balance. And of course, it broke, sending her tumbling to the floor among various other trinkets. She winced, checking immediately to see that her newly acquired bottle and the vase hadn't broken.

Scrambling up off the floor, she held the items close, looking around for the shopkeeper. Still, no one came, even with the racket that she had made. With an embarrassed look around for perhaps the hundredth time, Chihiro dropped the money for her possessions onto the wooden counter and fled the shop, the little bell above the door tinkling once again.

It wasn't until she was outside of the odd little shop that Chihiro realized that she had been holding her breath. She let it out in a big gust, grateful for the fresh air and the breeze that stirred her school uniform.

"Well that was weird…" she mused aloud. She felt a bit bad about knocking the shelf down and then taking the stuff without talking to the shop's owner. Then again, it wasn't like she stole the vase and bottle of the Kohaku River, and she _did_ look for anyone there…

With a shrug, Chihiro set off through the streets and up the hill to her house. Her mother practically pounced on her the moment she set foot through the door. Chihiro handed her the vase and went immediately to her room.

She set her hair stuff down and went about finding another hairtie to replace the purple one. Once her brown tresses were securely tied back, she set the bottle of river water on her windowsill so that the sun shone through it, refracting off the particles that had been stirred up with movement. As an afterthought, Chihiro fished her broken hair tie out of her pocket and tied it around the neck of the bottle. Water and purple glinted in the golden rays of the afternoon sun, entrancing the teen for quite some time. She felt like she was connected to the two items somehow, and it frustrated her that she could not think of why she felt attached to them.

After a while, Chihiro pulled herself away from the mesmerizing interplay of light and glanced at the clock. With a sigh, she got up from her seat on her bed and changed out of her school uniform. Jeans and a t-shirt were her chosen attire, simple and comfortable. With a last glance at the bottle and hair tie glittering in the sun, she wandered out into the kitchen.

She passed the living room doorway, pausing to ask permission of her mother. The woman was sitting at their low table, which was cluttered with polishing rags and various other cleaners. She was scrubbing away at her precious vase while the television blared out some talkshow.

"Mom?"

Chihiro's mother barely looked up at the sound of her daughter's voice. "Chihiro, look at these people! They have no shame! I know that if _my_ family was as dysfunctional as theirs, why, we would keep it to ourselves, not dishonor past and future generations alike by going on some silly talkshow in front of the whole world! I wonder how much they're paid…"

"May I go on a picnic with Umi and Yuna?"

Chihiro rolled her eyes as her mother's only response was to let out a great, "HAH!" of amusement and disbelief as one of the people on the talkshow leapt from her chair to dive at one of the men, screaming and kicking.

"Well, I told her," Chihiro muttered to herself as she turned away and wandered into the kitchen. It took her only a few minutes to make a number of sandwiches for herself and her friends. After she grabbed some gold sodas and fruit juices from the fridge and an assortment of fruit from the basket on the counter, she threw it all into a large picnic basket she dragged out of the storage closet. As an afterthought she added a blanket for them to sit on and a deck of cards.

When everything was finally ready, she set off, anxious to be outside and in the nature-scented air. She went straight down the grassy hill (nearly tripping more than once and sending herself and her load of food flying) at a quick pace until she came to a level spot perfect for their dinner. Chihiro dropped the basket into the sun-warmed grass and wandered off, figuring that if either of her friends came looking for her, they would see the food and know that she was somewhere nearby.

Her explorations took her into the trees that stood on one side of the field. They did an excellent job of blocking out the sun, and Chihiro was grateful for the shade. It was nearing summer, and the rays of the afternoon sun burned hot. Deeper and deeper into the grove she went, stumbling through the underbrush that carpeted the ground. 

She was beginning to fear getting lost in the mass of trees when a dirt road popped up in front of her out of the blue. Not that it looked like it functioned any longer, for plants had been allowed to take it over, making it into nothing more than an old, disused pathway. Memory stuck her then, memory of a place just like this. When she and her parents had moved to their home, they had taken a wrong turn and driven through an arboretum just like this one.

Chihiro know that she should go back, but her feet picked a direction and followed it down the road. She kept an eye out for the little spirit houses and the stone carving of the monk that lay off to the side, but she could not find them. "Huh, I must be father along on the path than I thought," she mused to herself. That meant that she was close to the tunnel.

Oddly, that was all she could remember. She knew that she and her parents had gone through the tunnel, but as to what lay on the other side, she had no recollection. So caught up in her musing, the teen was, that she did not notice when she rounded a final curve and came upon her destination. Another stone sat in the ground, the face of the monk carved into its surface staring at her in an odd sort of welcoming way.

It was hardly recognizable; the fake plaster had been overgrown with plants so much that the tunnel's entrance was nearly covered. She walked immediately to the tunnel, pulling the vines from their hold in an attempt to gain access to what lay beyond them. The wind picked up at her back, as if it wanted her to go through the hall of stone.

With a sigh of annoyance, Chihiro finally just pushed her way through the twisted mass of plants. They yielded to her will and let her through. The tunnel was dark, and Chihiro felt an initial chill run through her. Part of her balked at the thought of walking through the tunnel, the same part that screamed at her to turn around and run back to her friends and the warm light of the sun. But another part of her chided herself for being so childish, chided her for being afraid of a simple, deserted tunnel.

She emerged from the tunnel to see a spacious room filled with wooden benches. The slowly weakening rays of daylight illuminated the floor in pretty colors from a stained glass window set high in the hall. While it was dirty and unkempt, it did not have the same feeling of desolation as the outside had. An arched opening led to a field, one which Chihiro quickly began walking through.

No hesitation gripped her. She moved as if she knew exactly it was where she was going. Chihiro crossed the remnants of a river, now only a stream strewn with boulders, hopping from stone to stone. Grinning at the fact that she got across without a major clumsy episode, she started up a flight of old, worn steps.

"How weird," she said to no one in particular, staring at the odd little town that was before her. "It's all… restaurants." A grumbling in her stomach reminded her that she was quite hungry, and by now quite late for her picnic, but the thought of eating some of the food that was set out in the various restaurants repulsed her beyond measure for an unfathomable reason.

Her feet continued to carry her through the town, always heading upwards. The emptiness of the place gave her the shivers. "Just a few more minutes," Chihiro promised herself. She walked by deserted storefront upon deserted storefront without seeing so much as a bird ar squirrel, much less any people.

Chihiro's walk came to a stop as she reached what seemed to be the focus of the odd town. It was a grand old building, standing proudly against the setting sun. Chihiro let her eyes travel over the bridge that led to the building, then up and all over the magnificent structure. Her eyes finally stopped their roaming on the white Hiragana that was painted upon the door. Yu. Bathhouse.

At that precise moment, the sun sank below the horizon and the lanterns lining the walkways flickered on.

And as far from her friends as she was, an entire world and more away, she had no hope of hearing her friends' desperate, panicked screams of her name in the field down the hill from her home.


	3. Of a Confused Human and a Depressed Rive...

A/N: I am SO sorry that it took me so long to get this chapter out! I had the week from Hell, quite literally, cause I missed a week of school from being sick and last week was my time to make it all up, on top of the ACT test. Evil, I tell you! *passes out cookies to make up for the time* Sorry!

R.O.T. (Random Odd Things): I'm just going to start putting my little details and stuff here, because I seem to have a lot of them, and that way you can pass over them if you wish ^_^;;

~I made Haku be taller because a grown up Chihiro and a little Haku just doesn't seem quite right -_-;; I don't think it's mentioned, but he is.

~I dunno about you, but I don't think that Rin is human, so for the purposes of this fic, she isn't.

~And yes, I use a ton of commas, mainly because the style of this fic is VERY different from everything else that I've written. This flows (or it's supposed to, anyway), especially when we get into Haku's pov about halfway through this chapter. My computer got quite ticked at me for a few sentences near the end because they're so long lol ^_^

And on with the fic! :-) By the way, I just wanted to say that I am thrilled with the response I've been getting for this fic! I have found my ideal fandom in all you guys lol. ^_^ A big thank you to everyone!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Darkness fell unnervingly quickly. Chihiro's dream from earlier in the afternoon sprang unbidden to her mind, images of her nightmare and all that lay before her meshing together until Chihiro could no longer tell what was dream and what was not. Her instincts screamed at her to run. But if this really _was_ the land of her dream then those odd shadow creatures were out there- not to mention the fact that there would be masses of water and the boat that slipped across its dark depths blocking her from her home. No, there would be no refuge back the way she had come, Chihiro decided. The bathhouse with its windows full of real, earthly light was her last hope.

The thought that the shapeless blobs could be sneaking up on her set her feet in motion. Chihiro bolted across the bridge, flying to the doorway and pounding on it like there was no tomorrow. Though in the situation she was in, there very well might not be. After only a moment, the door flew open, an irritated man that strongly resembled a frog scowling at her. "All right, all right, I'm here. Hello, good customer…" He suddenly trailed off, sniffing the air. "A HUMAN!"

Chihiro only stared at the weird thing before her. Her throat constricted with fear. There would be no refuge in the large bathhouse; behind the frog Chihiro could see other of his kind, odd women with slightly oversized heads, and other creatures running around in a swirl of chaotic activity.

"Be careful," another frogman whispered, holding its nose as it hovered beside the first.

"Nonsense," said an actual frog in a little blue coat, defying all logic and speaking as it hopped around anxiously. "But it will contaminate the whole place if it gets in! And don't tought it! Human germs are deadly, you know."

"Eeeeew, what's that awful stench?" demanded one of the women, pausing by the ever-growing group of beings. Chihiro shifted uncomfortably as they all fixed their eyes on her while they whispered rather unpleasant things about her and other humans that carried to her ears.

"I'm dreaming," Chihiro whispered to herself, so quietly that her voice reached her ears and went no further. "I'm dreaming! I'm dreamingI'mdreamingimdreamingimdreaming! None of this is real!" Her voice rose in volume with each word until she was yelling so loudly that the frogman before her jumped in alarm.

"This is no place for a human! Hurry and get away, the customers are coming!" Sen spun around with a gasp. Sure enough, the frog's words rang true. An odd procession was drawing ever closer, some of the weirdest things that Chihiro had ever seen, much less imagined. At the head were beings shrouded in the voluminous traditional cloaks of nobles with odd, rectangular masks hiding their faces. Or maybe those _were_ their faces; Chihiro couldn't tell. She couldn't see much of the other beings, and quite frankly, she didn't want to.

"This is a dream, it just HAS to be!" Chihiro wailed. "Just another of my crazy nightmares!" By this point, she had turned back to the looming building and the slightly less scary people within.

"Yeah, leave already! You're stinking up the place enough as it is, stupid human," one of the women sneered.

"Are you dense? I said scram!" Not as easy as the frogman made it seem. She could dash into the bathhouse, but what support would that offer? The only other option was to turn back, but the water and the other…_things_ were still there.

Chihiro's hands came up to grip at the sides of her head in desperation. "It's a dream, just a dream! Please, let me wake up!"

"Sen?"

"You stinking human, GO AWAY before I have Yubaba come down here and turn you into a pig so we can serve you for dinner!" The threat didn't quite work though, seeing as Chihiro didn't have even the slightest clue who, or what, this Yubaba person was.

"SEN!" a woman screeched, coming out of the bathhouse and pushing past the by now exceedingly annoyed frogman to enfold a very confused Chihiro in her arms.

"Wh-what?" Chihiro choked out, struggling against the woman's strong hold on her.

"I don't believe you're here! What's it been, five, six years? How have you been? And what in Yubaba's name are you doing here?"

Can't…breathe…"

"Huh? Oh, sorry about that!" The woman grinned sheepishly. "I was just so excited to see you! What's wrong? You've barely said a word! Cat spirit got your tongue?"

"Let me go! You have no right to-"

"Sen!" the woman admonished, a surprised look in her eyes. She now held Chihiro by the shoulders, distancing herself a bit.

"Rin, get that little brat out of here!" the talkative frogman demanded, nervously eyeing the approaching spirits.

"You must have the wrong person. Now LET ME GO!" Chihiro started struggling even more, desperate to get away, away from everything, to find a little corner and curl up in it until all these strange people had gone away and she could wake up from this terrifyingly real nightmare.

The woman's hands continued to hold Chihiro by the shoulders, aggravating the girl to no end. "Get away! I don't know you! Just leave me alone!"

"Rin, what's going _on_ out there?" Yet another sluggish woman peered out of the door, staring openly at the scene Chihiro was making. "And what's that awful smell?" Chihiro was seriously starting to get annoyed with every single being holding their noses and claiming that she smelled bad. It wasn't like she never showered or anything, after all. There was no way that she could smell _that_ bad.

Rin's hands dropped from Chihiro's shoulders as if she has been burned. "…You don't remember anything, Sen?"

The disappointment and hurt in Rin's voice clamed Chihiro's hysteria a bit. "Remember!? Remember what? And my name is Chihiro. Chihiro. Chi-hi-ro. Not Sen!"

Rin grabbed Chihiro's arm once more, but only to mover her out of the customers' way. The frogmen and women scowled at the fact that Rin ignored them, but could do noting about it as the spirits had arrived. The air was soon filled with many voices calling out greetings and the chatter of the people receiving them. The customers began flooding into the bathhouse, some wrinkling their noses at the tang of human in the air.

Rin was silent for a time. "Se- Chihiro, why are you here?"

"I don't know," Chihiro replied, tearing her eyes away from the strange procession. "I don't even know where 'here' _is_, or who you think I am. Or who you are, for that matter."

Rin was silent for a little while, apparently pondering. "Come, then. I will take you to the person in charge. You can't go home now, at any rate." With barely a glance at Chihiro, Rin turned and set off into the grand building.

Chihiro fell into step at her heels. She found, much to her surprise, that she actually liked the interior and felt comfortable there. The bright lights and warmth that virtually flooded the place helped her previous terror seep away, and the steam carried the comforting scent of herbs to her nose, relaxing tense muscles.

It _was_ a very beautiful place. Everything was amazingly clean and shiny. Some of the most exquisite artwork that Chihiro had even seen was plastered all over the place. Fancy chandeliers hung from the high, vaulted ceiling, bathing everything in a bright glow. The entire place screamed money, so much so that Chihiro felt a bit guilty for treading inside the place with her dirty sneakers on.

Chihiro was silent as they walked through the polished hallways. They were going up and up on various elevators, giving Chihiro a good view of the bathhouse and all the abnormal beings within. Her shock truly was beginning to wear off- not that Chihiro really believed that any of it was real.

Throughout it all, there were cries of, "Sen!" and, "Sen is back!" Chihiro, miffed, to say the least, ignored them.

Finally, the door slid open on the top level to reveal a hallway even more ornate than the levels below. Chihiro had thought that Rin would leave her to speak to the owner herself, but the woman came, wincing a bit as Chihiro's tennis shoes sounded loudly on the polished marble flooring. Rin did, however, make Chihiro announce her presence by speaking to the weird doorknocker that apparently felt the need to speak right back.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

He paced. A lot.

Running Aburaya was easy- the workers knew what to do and did it well, without his interference. He doubted that many of the denizens of Yubaba even knew that their master was gone, off on a journey to set up another bathhouse in some distant corner of the world.

Or so she said. He knew it was a lie.

Something, somewhere, was wring, dreadfully wrong. He had just arrived back from a little mission she had wanted him to take, nothing at all of significance, when a panicked messenger from Zeniba had arrived. Yubaba didn't know that he was listening as she muttered to herself, as she hurriedly packed her things, grabbed a most unhappy Bou, and taken off, leaving him a small note with her excuse and that she would send word sometime soon. Yubaba would never have left the bathhouse under any but the most drastic circumstances. And that's exactly what worried him- if she deemed it too important to speak a word of the truth to him, her closest and most trusted servant, though he was no longer a slave to her will and did everything of his own volition, it must be drastic indeed.

And so he paced. 

And ignored the fact that someone was at the door to Yubaba's office.

"If you don't pace somewhere else, you're going to wear a rut into the floor, you know."

Haku did not stop his circling. "Shouldn't you be attending to the customers?" His voice was clam, impersonate.

He had reached the point in his relentless motion where he was facing Rin, who was busy sticking her tongue out at him. His gaze slipped to the girl standing quietly next to her. His step flatered.

Those eyes. Oh, how he had longed to see those eyes, those eyes he would know anywhere. "Chihiro," he breathed, eyes widening. So long had she been gone- though in reflection it truly was nothing but a drop of water in the river of his life- and just when the constant ache in his heart had dulled ever the smallest bit, just when the gaping hole inside him that only Chihiro could fill had ceased alerting him to its presence every second of every day and night alike, there she was before him, staring into his eyes with an expression on her face that suggested he was completely crazy and that there was no way in the world he should know her name. 

"All right," she said, apparently not being able to keep her silence any longer.

Haku drank in her appearance. She had grown up in the time since she had left Aburaya… and him. She was taller, of course; so too was he. Her face had lost its childish roundness. It was now more angular and defined. He knew that she would not be considered the most lovely person in her world, but to him, she was the very epitome of beauty.

Her lyrical voice broke into his thoughts. "Where am I? Who are you? And why is everyone here calling me Sen?"

Haku's heart plummeted inside his chest as he stared at her, his one and only Chihiro, a growing feeling of dread winding itself through his veins. His mouth suddenly went dry, and he had to try hard to get his voice to work so he could answer her. "You are inside Aburaya, the bathhouse of the Spirits."

She frowned in consternation, pondering his answer.

"My name is Ko- Haku. I am Master Haku. And you… the spirits know you as Sen, not Chihiro."

"But why would the… spirits… know me? I've never been here before. I don't know anyone here! This is just a dream… isn't it?"

Each word that came out of her mouth sliced like a dagger to his heart. He had prayed to any and every spirit capable of granting heartfelt wishes that what he feared was not true. Here was after all this time, so close that he could reach out a trembling hand and touch her, and yet she was so unbearably far away.

It broke his heart.

"Why have you come here, Chihiro?" He felt a brief flash of guilt seize his already tortured heart as her eyes widened at the ice that suddenly permeated his voice.

"I… I don't know! I just walked through the tunnel into the town and then the sun set and then I couldn't get back! My friends have to be so worried! This isn't a dream, is it?"

All he could do was shake his head almost imperceptibly. Haku wished right then and there that he had some patron god or something like the humans did to curse for his current situation. First he was Yubaba's slave, forced to do all that she asked of him and more; then out of the blue a little human girl had found her way onto the bridge, challenging his master, informing him that his beloved river, his one and only home, was no more, and bringing his softer side back out into the light once more. She had given him his life back with the simple gift of his true name; and in return, she had left with his heart in her hands.

He should have asked her to stay. He remembered the day she had left him with the clarity of pure water, saw himself even now holding her hand, telling her to return to her own world even as every drop of his being screamed for him not to let her go. _"I'll find my way back to my own world."_ It had been a lie, pure and simple, to reassure her that everything would be fine.

Now that she was back again, he didn't want to let her go.

"Please, I just want to go home!"

"You can't." He couldn't stop the lie from coming out of his mouth even as he told himself it wasn't right and mentally berated himself for being selfish. "Once you have found your way into the Spirit World, there is no going back. You must stay here and work or the magic of this world will overcome you and turn you into a form more suitable for use." 

Oh, how he hated himself for saying what he did. He made sure to keep his eyes from coming in contact with Rin's; it was possible that she might know that there was nothing to keep Chihiro in this world, not with Yubaba gone.

"I…I can't go home?"

"No, not yet. You must do a great service to this world to untie the bonds that were set upon you the moment you set foot into this place. You must stay here and work until the opportunity arises and you win your freedom." Haku couldn't bear to look into her eyes for more than a second either. They were brimming with tears, an internal conflict playing itself out for all to see. 

After a time of uneasy silence, she spoke, so softly that Haku would have missed her voice had he not been straining to hear it. "All right. If I cannot go home, I will stay and work." He saw Rin place a hand on her shaking shoulder in comfort. Haku truly hoped that Rin did not know the rules regarding humans within the Spirit World.

"You may work with Rin. There will be food, clothing, and a place for you to sleep. Rin will show you what to do. And perhaps you should become accustomed to calling yourself Sen so that if the spirits address you, you will know to whom they speak." With that, Haku turned his back on them. He knew that Rin would understand it to be a dismissal and take Chihiro to her room.

The door to the outside flew open at a glare from him after their footsteps faded away. With a thought, he took the form of the great dragon and hurled himself off the balcony and into the skies, slicing through the air and away from Aburaya until his thoughts and guilt calmed down.


	4. Of Sleeping and Unusual Customers

A/N: *hides behind a brick wall as she addresses the readers* I'm finally back! And happy to be back! I am SO sorry that it took so long to get this out, I had a brief spat with writer's block, nothing too major (luckily, and I've had a few flashes of WONDERFUL inspiration to make up for it) and then finishing my junior year nearly killed me. I did well on my ACT's though ^_^. My point is, forgive me for the horrendously long wait, and I'll give you lots and lots of cookies if you do!

And now, straight to the story!

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Chihiro couldn't figure out why Rin was so mad at her. The woman walked in silence except for replying to the greetings called out by random people.

Not that Chihiro was really too concerned at the moment; her mind was full of the odd boy. He had looked to be about her age physically; his emerald eyes spoke of many, many more years and yet were a wall that showed nothing about him at all. His black hair held a distinct green tint about it, hanging straight in shiny locks to his chin. There was something about the way he moved and spoke that strongly reminded her of water.

But oh, how he had looked at her… the instant her eyes had crossed paths with his, something had flashed in those pools of green. His voice had shifted from the icy coldness it had held when he addressed Rin to something softer with the three syllables of her name. What had seemed like only seconds later his voice chilled enough to freeze her in place.

And he nad never answered her why so many people in Aburaya knew who she was… or rather, knew her as Sen, for reasons that she could not fathom. With every breath that she took, Chihiro was becoming more and more convinced that she wasn't crazy and that all of this was real.

After all, she and her parents _had_ come to the little city outside the bathhouse long ago, when they had first moved to the city. She had been too angry with her parents back then to honestly care, but they had come down the same path and gone through the same tunnel that she had before becoming trapped within this crazy place. Only they hadn't been in Aburaya… had they?

No matter how hard she tried, the path of her thoughts always returned to Haku. She felt… different when he looked at her. Out of everything that she had seen, it was when the human girl had set eyes on him that she felt most like there was something drastically important that she was missing. Chihiro felt like she truly knew him from somewhere and vowed to sit down when she had time to think and figure out where. But at the moment, there were slightly more pressing concerns.

Rin and Chihiro had climbed a number of flights if stairs and emerged into a hallway that was desolate but for themselves. Chihiro cleared her throat, and when she received no response, she spoke, albeit a bit hesitantly. "Um… miss Rin, I don't know what I did, but I'm sorry for it."

Rin stopped and turned, looking a bit abashed. "You didn't do anything wrong, Se- Chihiro." Rin could tell that she didn't exactly look convinced of it. "Oh, come on you little dope, we have to get you settled in. Hungry?" Chihiro nodded.

Again the two lapsed into silence, but it was decidedly more amiable than before. Chihiro really didn't feel well, compounded by the fact that this wasn't your everyday trip, and therefore was quite stressful.

At last, Rin led Chihiro into a room. It was clared out a spacious, but cupboards lined the walls and Chihiro figured that there were blankets and such behind their wooden doors.

"Hmmm," said Rin, looking Chihiro over. "Food first, then we'll get you settled in. After that, you can sleep. You look exhausted!"

Chihiro nodded and walked out onto the balcony, sitting down at its edge with a sigh. The cool night winds felt good against the heat of the bathhouse. With yet another sigh, she shut her eyes and fell into a light doze.

After a while, the sound of footsteps returning made her open them again. Chihiro raised a hand to rub at her eye and jumped when she discovered that she could see right through it, straight to the train that sliced through the night far below. Her surprise was not enough to warrant much of a reaction, though; she was seeing too many odd things, was far too tired for her own good, and most certainly didn't feel well enough to do much more than stare at it in bewilderment and rotate the offending appendage in the vain hope that it was just some weird rash or something. No such luck. Her other hand deemed to be determined to be transparent as well.

"Here ya go," Rin said, handing Chihiro a huge dumpling that both looked and smelled delicious. "Eat up!" Chihiro reached out and took it, inhaling it's tantalizing scent with one huge sniff.

By the time Chihiro had finished eating, her eyelids had grown so heavy that she could barely keep them open. Rin noticed and pulled a sleeping mat and bag out from the cupboards on the wall. Chihiro mumbled a sleepy thanks and was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

The days quickly settled into a pattern, and Chihiro, while she missed her family and friends terrible, found that she liked working at the bathhouse. The uniform she had found by her head when she had awoken and prepared for her first night of work were the most comfortable things Chihiro could ever remember wearing. Before dusk each evening she and the rest of the people of Aburaya would rise and begin the day's preliminary cleaning. Rin got them breakfast (though at first it was odd to think of a meal eaten after the sun had set as breakfast) after a bit of scrubbing, before the customers came, unless they were running late. Then Chihiro would have to try to convince the foreman to give her bath tokens with her cheeks stuffed with food, which, as she was once informed, looked extremely silly.

She neither saw nor heard any more about Haku as the days and weeks slipped away. She was kept pleasantly busy constantly; when she wasn't working, she was usually sleeping or chatting with Rin- not that she didn't spend the entire time working chatting with her as well.

Chihiro awoke one evening later than normal to find the place in a complete uproar. She hastily finished dressing and threw her sleeping gear into the shelves and went in search of Rin. Instead of the usual semi-chaos the place was always in, Aburaya seemed to have devolved into complete anarchy, and no customers had even come, that she could see. Instead of the usual shifts, every single being seemed to be rushing around cleaning the place within an inch of its life and getting things ready, often with a large number of them trying to be in the exact same place as the others.

After having to scream to be heard over the din, Chihiro managed to get directions to Rin, who was scrubbing at the large tub like mad, even though it really wasn't that dirty. The noise abated a bit as Chihiro grabbed a brush and hopped in next to her friend. 

"Hey," Rin grunted, nearly wearing the brush down by scrubbing madly at a stain. "You looked tired, so I let you sleep."

"What's going on?" she inquired of the spirit.

"Dunno," Rin replied, sighing as she slumped against the tub's side. "Haku came storming in a little while ago and demanded that everyone be woken up and get to work because a special guest was on its way. We wouldn't have gotten this stupid tub again," she added as an afterthought, "but I happened to be in his line of vision when he was saying to clean it." She made a face.

It was on the tip of the human girl's tongue to ask when they had been given the huge tub to clean before. Nobody really seemed to like talking about the time she had been a member of the cleaning squad before, though, so Chihiro asked something else instead. "Does Master Haku work with the customers at all? I haven't seen him down here."

The title didn't sit well on her tongue. It just seemed so natural to call him Haku, instead of Master Haku… not that the name Haku seemed to fit him quite right, but still. 

"Nope," Rin answered, resignedly beginning to scrub again. "He's lucky. All _he_ has to do is order all of us around."

"They're almost here!" someone yelled, their voice amazingly carrying over the noise.

Rin jumped. "Come on, just leave it, we need to fill the tub. I'll get a token, you just get all of our stuff out of here."

"Okay," Chihiro said, and that was that. Rin came running back and the tub was filled as quickly as possible. The instant they were done, they joined the huge crowd by the main doorway.

By now Chihiro was bursting with curiosity about who the guest was, and she could tell that a similar feeling was running throughout everyone assembled there. They did not need to wait long to find out.

Haku came calmly down a stairwell and walked slowly up to the massive group, emerald eyes sweeping over them all. He did not even need to say anything to get everyone to quiet down and pay attention to him. Like a ripple, the calmness that he seemed to emit spread throughout everyone.

When all were silent, he spoke. "Our guests will be arriving shortly. I want everyone to treat them with more respect than all our other guests combined. They will be arriving first and will be served first as well. Everyone will line the walkway and bridge all the way into the doors of Aburaya- silently. Rin and Chihiro, I want you at the doors, ready to escort our guests to the large tub, where they will be treated with the utmost care and speed." His words sent a ripple of murmurs throughout the crowd. Chihiro got the impression that nothing like this had ever happened before, and some of the spirits had been there for a long time.

Haku cleared his throat pointedly and everyone immediately began lining up. If even a peep was heard, his unfathomable eyes would turn in their direction. From her vantage point across from Rin and right next to the door, Chihiro could look down the extremely long line of spirits. It stretched as far as possible until the stairs, and went down and beyond them, far out of her line of sight. 

All was quiet for a time. The slowly, up the line, everyone started whispering and standing on tiptoe in order to see all the way down. Chihiro caught whispers of, "They're here!" Haku seemed to have given up trying to shush people and had retreated silently back onto the platform inside the door.

Something down by the stairs was happening, though it took a bit of time for it to reach the front of the line. All the spirits began arranging themselves, fixing their uniforms, patting their hair, and deciding on the proper way to stand. And while everyone was still doing that, the guests crested the stairs.

All fell into stunned silence. Chihiro herself was rather confused. Granted, she still could not see the guests very clearly. But slowly, ever so slowly, they came into view.

It was a procession, walking up the pathway at a slow but steady pace. Spirits that Chihiro had no words to describe were in the lead. They almost seemed to glow with an ethereal light, and for some reason, when Chihiro looked at them, she thought of plants. There were many, many kinds, leading the procession and lining it on both sides. And the beings that composed the procession took Chihiro's breath away. 

If there really were gods of the forest, these would most certainly be them. They looked like trees, only with slightly human faces looking out of the trunks. Of all kinds, their green leaves were edged with silver, blowing gracefully in the wind that wasn't there and making a sound like tinkling bells that carried through the silent night. They too glowed, towering in their magnificence. 

An unmistakable air of sorrow swept over the bathhouse, one that was laden with the feeling of intense loss. It moved Chihiro almost to tears, and she had no clue what was going on. Worry and fear was in all of the eyes of the spirits that lined the walkway, one that chilled Chihiro. She could find few words in her to define the spirits and the feelings that they evoked; they struck her heart too strongly and were beyond mere words.

Time seemed to stretch out for all of eternity until the procession reached the doors of Aburaya. Without being told, Chihiro and Rin moved out onto the path, facing the procession, and bowed deeply. Then they walked backwards, still bowing, until they stood behind Haku. It just seemed natural.

But the image of Haku's face was burned into her mind as she looked at him out of the corner of her eye as she passed. While he appeared composed, the shadow of fear ran deep through his eyes.


	5. Of Tree Spirits and a Kodama

A/N: Yay, another chapter. I had a bit of writer's block and made my friend help. But now, for the time being, it's all good :-) And since a number of you asked for kodama, I couldn't help but put one in ^_^

Disclaimer: You people should know by now that I don't own Sen to Chihiro no Kamikaushi. Sigh.

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Chihiro made herself tear her eyes away from Haku as the guests finally reached the doorway of Aburaya. Haku walked with her and Rin to the tub, which had a wonderfully musky smell drifting up from its steaming waters.

The tree spirits, however, all paused before they entered the bath. The lead tree spirit, a sakura tree with its blossoms in full bloom, paused, staring at Chihiro from eyes of gnarled tree bark. "One moment," it said, in an odd voice that was a cross between the rattling of its branches and a deep, yet smooth, rumbling. It turned back to its companions and rustled its branches a bit, then resumed glaring at her while it addressed Haku. "Master of Aburaya, we will not be served by a _human_."

Chihiro couldn't help but gape. She hadn't done a single thing whatsoever to deserve the tree's contempt, and yet, it glared and rattled its branches as though she had killed one of its kind or something. Behind the lead tree spirit, the others were twitching leaves in what sounded to her like assent. "W-what did I-"

Haku silenced her by swiftly upraising his hand. Chihiro trailed off, confused and a bit hurt. The master of Aburaya bowed politely. "It shall be as you request, great spirits. Rin shall tend to your every need." The spirits turned and, one by one, settled themselves down into the steaming waters of their bath.

Without a word to her, Haku turned and began walking away. "H- er, Master Haku, what's wrong? Why won't they let me work?" Chihiro found that she didn't like the tone of hurt that permeated her voice; as much as she didn't want to admit it, being discriminated against because of her race (well, at least she assumed that was the full reason; if there was more to it, Chihiro had not the slightest idea) stung her.

He turned, hair swishing about his beautiful and calm face. His eyes held something indefinable in their depths. "I do not know why the spirits do not wish for your assistance. But do not lest it bother you; it is impossible to know exactly what their reasoning is. They have lived ten times the number of years as you or I. Be contented with that."

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Haku couldn't help but reassure Chihiro, despite knowing that he had acted… unfavorably the last time they had come in contact with one another. He did not want to admit, even to himself, that he still loved her with all the feeling in his heart as he had the day that she had given him back his name. He simply could not help it. She had changed him, given him back all that made him… him. She renewed the hope that in his immortal life he may be able to find happiness. She had saved him.

Chihiro looked so disheartened by the way that the ancient tree spirit had treated her. Part of him went out to her, making him feel even worse about lying to her just to keep her near. The years that they had been apart had been torture, plain and simple. His heart ached for her without a moment's respite; his consciousness registered each and every second that she was gone, a feeling that the spirit of the Kohaku River could not ever remember experiencing in all the long years of his life. He did not want to live without the human girl that had won his immortal heart.

But the fact that the tree spirits had shunned her so was a cause for concern. Though they were the most conservative of spirits that normally dwelled far to the west, even they should not have such hatred for a girl that had not wronged them in any way.

He said what he could to make her feel better, but he knew that it did not help as much as he had hoped. With a sigh that stopped at his lips, he turned and made his way to the upper levels, leaving Chihiro to do as she wished until the main contingent of the spirits arrived. There seemed to be a common agreement between them all that the normal patrons of Aburaya would not come until the ancient tree spirits and their entourage of spirits had gone on their way. Granted, the nameless spirits that manned all the restaurants that composed the small town surrounding the bathhouse must be delighted beyond measure, for they were receiving many times the volume of business as normal.

The spirit of the Kohaku River was deeply troubled by the arrival of the spirits. It would take much pondering on his part to discover why they had left their home forests and come, against all expectations, east. Until then, he would have to be content with keeping Aburaya running as normal and watching his love from afar.

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Chihiro gave a gusty sigh and tried to decide what to do. As the spirits didn't want her anywhere in their general vicinity and none of the normal spirits had apparently come yet, she was really at a loss. 

Haku's words did make her feel a bit better, though she realized that it was only because she had wanted to see him for so long that any words coming from his mouth would have sounded wonderful. She just could not shake the feeling that she knew him very closely. His calm, always so very calm face seemed to agree and yet disagree at the same time. Needless to say, she was very confused.

And she missed her family and friends terribly. Time seemed to be flowing at the same rate at Aburaya as what she had come to think of the normal world- that meant that she had been gone without a trace for quite some time now. Her heart was torn between her home and the bathhouse of the spirits.

"Outta the way," a spirit carrying a gigantic tray laden with food said, trying to get by Chihiro, who was still standing in the middle of the hallway.

She moved to one side, dimly noticing that the area around the tub was filling with workers, most of which weren't doing anything but gaping at the tree spirits like they were not real or something along those lines. It reminded Chihiro just how little she knew about the realm of the spirits and only increased her desire for home.

Finally, Chihiro decided just to go back up to her room and sit on the balcony. She sat at the edge and stared down at the train as it passed, bored for once. Gradually, time passed and the tree spirits left, going through the town in their beautiful procession until they were out of sight. As the normal patrons of Aburaya started flooding in, anxious to bathe before the sun rose, Chihiro meandered back downstairs and found Rin.

She, and the other spirits that had served the trees, were as happy as Chihiro had ever seen them. As soon as she was seen by her friend, Rin rushed up grinning broadly. "You won't believe how much they paid all of us! And the best part is that Haku is letting us keep all of it!" Chihiro couldn't help but laugh at Rin's excitement. "I'm just going to run this upstairs and then I'll be back," Rin informed her, and dashed off.

She was back momentarily and they set about serving some of the spirits. The rest of the night passed as normal, but for the air that seemed to have permeated the bathhouse ever since the tree spirits had set foot into the town. Most of the spirits were edgy and more demanding than usual. It was nothing too painstaking, but by the time the night was over and the sun threatened the horizon, Chihiro was exhausted.

With a sigh, Chihiro glanced around the large tub once more to check that everything was in place for the morning. Everything was fine but for a white rag that had been shoved into one of the corners. She bent down to pick it up, but just as her fingers were about to touch it, there was a sudden click from it.

The human girl jumped back with a small shriek as the spirit (at least, that's what she assumed it was; it most certainly wasn't a rag) clicked again and raised its head to look at her. At the sound of her shriek it pushed itself a bit further into the corner and started to dim, though it did not disappear. The overly tired Chihiro hadn't meant to scare it, she was just tired and not expecting there to be another spirit around after all had already left.

She did feel guilty for scaring it, though. She addressed the little thing as politely as she was able. "Excuse me, I really didn't mean to scare you, I was just surprised. Will you come out of the corner? I can get you food, if you'd like."

Its head turned and spots of black stared up at her. Apparently deciding she really wasn't going to hurt it, the spirit solidified, uncurled and stood up. Its head was cocked to one side. Chihiro figured that it was just thinking, and was surprised when, in a series of clicks, its head returned to normal.

The sight of it made Chihiro giggle. It was small, plump, and white, reminding Chihiro of the American Pillsbury Dough Boy quite a bit. It had a head that looked too big for its body, and it's eyes and nose were black dots, with its mouth the same, though at the moment, it had stretched out into a smiling shape. It was really very adorable.

Chihiro squatted down before it. "How come you haven't gone home?" The thing saddened at bit, its smile fading. I gave a sad series of clicks. Chihiro thought hard for a moment and then remembered the multitude of spirits in the procession. "Were you with the tree spirits?" More disheartened clicks.

Now she felt really bad for it. Chihiro didn't know if Rin would approve, but she offered anyway. "Well… would you like to stay here?" It started grinning and clicking like mad as it bounced around on the floor. Chihiro laughed again and scooped it up. She settled it on her shoulder where it sat, bouncing more. It was so light that if it had not been clicking, she probably would not have known it was there.

They wandered upstairs, the spirit clicking in contentment all the way. She had no sooner reached the balcony next to her room than Rin appeared behind her, carrying food. "Oh, good, I thought you'd be up here." Rin stopped and blinked a bit as she noticed the spirit perched merrily on Chihiro's shoulder. "You have a kodama on your shoulder."

Chihiro nodded. The kodama wound up and clicked. Rin laughed. "You never cease to surprise, do you?"

She smiled as she took food from her friend. "Of course not. What's the fun in that?" They chatted a bit while they ate, the kodama periodically moving from Chihiro to Rin and back.

With the kodama by her head, Chihiro soon fell into a deep slumber, plagued by dreams of the tree spirits and nightmares which she did not remember upon awakening.


	6. Of a Busy Night and a Daytime Walk

A/N: Yay, another chapter, relatively short though it is. I have this thing about not forcing myself to write when I don't want to, I have to be in the mood, so that's why it takes a while for me to update. Sorry ^_^

Disclaimer: Someday, over the rainbooooooooow, I'll own Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushiiiiii…

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"Chihiiiroooooo…" 

The girl being addressed frowned at being woken up and snuggled farther under her covers. "Juss' five more minutes," she mumbled, already asleep once more. She was just sinking back into the land of dreams when coldness washed over her. Chihiro sat up, cracking her eyes open to see that Rin stood at the foot of her sleeping mat with her blankets in one hand.

"I come bearing an offering of food, O Mighty Goddess of Sleep." Rin extended her other hand, which held a bowl.

Chihiro stuck her tongue out at the spirit, and, ignoring all the other women in the room who were putting their sleeping gear away, and flopped back down onto her mat, bemoaning her lack of blankets in her head. An agitated clicking made her sit up quickly once more. The little white kodama, looking a tad bit squashed, clicked again and jumped up onto her shoulder.

Rin dropped Chihiro's blanket and waved the bowl of food in front of Chihiro's nose. "Come on, you little dope, get up! Time to go to work. The way you were sleeping, I half expected you to be in bed until next year."

"Sorry, I was tired."

"No problems, you eat and I'll put your stuff away."

"Thanks Rin," Chihiro managed to say while yawning. She ate and the two went downstairs. The preliminary cleaning was easy, and they finished quickly. But when all the customers began flooding in- and flood in they did, in numbers the likes of which Chihiro couldn't ever remember having seen- the human girl began to feel curious.

"Does it look… busier to you?" inquired Chihiro, trying to wind her way through throngs of spirits, shoving and ducking as necessary.

"M-hmm. More spirits are probably here because of the procession that came through last night." Rin pulled Chihiro aside as a particularly large burst of spirits went past.

The single busiest night of Chihiro's life ensued. She, quite literally, had almost no time whatsoever to breathe, much less to rest for a moment. Chihiro was on her feet all night, running all over Aburaya. Her gym teacher would have been proud, she mused once as she was hurtling down polished hallways and jumping over stacks of towels and pillows. She hadn't run this much, or this quickly, for a long time.

By the time that she dropped down into bed, she was completely exhausted. The very instant that she lowered herself, rather painfully, onto her sleeping mat, she fell into a deep, comforting sleep.

__

Everything was dark, a deep, pitch black that for some reason scared her very much. Emotion, raw, pure, thick emotion, washed over her until her psyche was engulfed in it and she knew nothing else. 

Hate. That was the first thing that she felt; hate that threatened to crush her heart and soul: hate against humans, hate against the spirits, hate against everything that lived.

And triumph. At what, she did not know. But she felt that something was clicking into place, that the plans long awaited of others were coming to fruition.

Laughter. Not so much a sound, but a feeling that blocked everything else out. Even though it was not a tangible noise, the impression it left on her consciousness was just as strong, if not stronger.

It sent a chill of horror and dread throughout her. She tried to do something, anything, to block out the feeling, which only gained substance as the emotions made her imagination run mad.

She tried to raise her hands, tried to grip at the sides of her head and screw her eyes shut to block everything out, to try and make the darkness dissipate. But she had no corporeal body with which to do so- no matter how hard she tried, no matter how much her inner self screamed for release, to be away from all the malevolence that surrounded her, she was nothing but a powerless anima lost in the sea of shadows.

Chihiro awoke in a cold sweat, eyes shooting open. It took her a moment to focus on the ceiling above her. For a wildly panicked moment, she thought that there was no light, that she was back in the blackness of her dream. But there was bright sunlight behind the rice paper doors that blocked entrance to the balcony.

The dream… when she thought about it, panic coursed through her blood anew. But as always happened with the dreams that she wished to remember, everything was fading away, leaving only the memory of the darkness in her mind. 

She drew a shuddering breath and decided, as exhausted and desiring sleep as she was, to get up and go outside. Silently, she stood up and wound her way to the door, praying that she didn't step on anyone. Luckily, she made it to the balcony without incident and put her outer shirt on.

For some reason, Chihiro decided that, while the balcony most certainly gave her a pretty view of the light illuminating the railroad, she wanted to be out in some direct sunlight. Ignoring the fact that she had left her shoes inside the room, she set off, winding her way down all the sets of stairs and out of the front door.

It was creepy to be up and about in Aburaya while no one else was there; the bathhouse was normally so full of workers and the spirits that came to refresh themselves that there was always noise and people. Being alone in the wide wooden halls, as beautiful as they were, especially with the last remnants of her nightmare hanging over her head discomforted Chihiro in ways that she could not explain.

The warm air outside the bathhouse helped calm her. Looking at the sun, she realized that it was just barely at its zenith- she had hours with which to wander around. She would get no more sleep this day.

She crossed the bridge, feet sounding lightly on the wooden planks, and moved on into the city. The restaurants were empty, devoid of any sign that they were full of spirits during the time that the sun did not shine. Idly rubbing her left foot on her right leg to rid her sole of a dirt clod that seemed intent on annoying her, she meandered slowly through the brightly painted, if not faded a bit, town. 

After some time walking, the restaurants suddenly stopped. A very confused Chihiro found herself facing another flight of stone stairs- those she remembered to have been partly covered in water- and a lush, green meadow that she was positive hadn't been there before.

But memory suddenly flashed. When she had entered the spirit world, she had crossed a number of hills covered with grass just before the sun had set. But after the sun had sunk below the horizon, was it not all covered with water? That was, after all, how many of the spirits got to Aburaya, on a boat. The spirit world had so many things that Chihiro would never even had dreamed. It most likely flooded at night, Chihiro decided.

She walked down the stairway and crossed a small brook of rocks, hopping from one to the next until she was able to sink her feet gratefully into the cool grass. She happily climbed up a hill and paused at the top, catching her breath; the view was stunning.

The human girl flopped down onto her back in the grass and shut her eyes in contentment. The sun helped dispel the last of the fear from her nightmare. The dream, in fact, seemed quite a long way away as she lay there, outside the town, basking in the sunlight that she hardly ever saw, much less was out in.

She lay there for a few minutes, completely undisturbed. But then, just as she was drifting off to sleep once more, there was a sudden stirring of the breeze near her and a shadow blocked the sun from bathing her face.

Chihiro opened her eyes to see none other than Haku.


	7. Of the Master and Strange Looks

He looked perfectly calm and composed, as he was each time that she saw him. He was leaning over her, frowning the slightest bit. "What are you doing out here?"

"Um… taking a walk?" Haku straightened up a bit, allowing Chihiro to stand up and face him.

"You should not be out here." His face had still not changed, but there was something abnormal in his voice. It was just barely there, only a shadow lurking in his melodic voice. It almost seemed like… panic?

Chihiro blinked in confusion. Why would he be worried that she was out here? Granted, she did not know the flooding schedule, and, now that she thought about it, she really didn't know if she was allowed to be out here. But he did not seem angry with her.

"Get back to Aburaya. Now." Ice completely taking over his voice, Haku grabbed one of her wrists and began pulling her back down the hill towards the city.

Strike the angry thing.

On a sudden impulse, Chihiro dug her heels into the ground and pulled against him, determined not to go. He was giving no reasons for being upset that she was all the way out here, not to mention the fact that, while he was always on the cold side to her, he was being unreasonable. "At least tell my why I shouldn't be out here!"

She gave a particularly violent series of tugs. It got her nothing in the end, however, as Haku continued with his vice-like grip on her wrist. The more she tried to pull away, the more pain it ended up causing her.

For all that she was trying to be strong, she was completely exhausted and not entirely in control of her emotions. Everything built up until she felt one of her infamous tantrums (though, since she had grown up, it began to take an amazing amount of stress and disappointment for her to regress to the point where she started crying) begin.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Kohaku looked back when Chihiro ceased struggling. To his horror, he found that she was crying, big, shining tears that cascaded down her cheeks in rivers. He unconsciously stopped walking and ceased pulling on her arm. She took the opportunity to wrench her appendage away from him and cover her face with her hands. Great sobs began to wrack her body.

Guilt hit him in waves. He had been flying around in his dragon shape, wishing that there was a body of water that he could plunge into and swim around for a while, when he had seen Chihiro walking towards the entrance to the spirit world. His heart had nearly stopped when he saw her, barefoot and looking quite tired, walking away from Aburaya. He feared that she had somehow found out that she could get home easily during the day, that she was turning her back on him forever. He didn't want to lose her again.

But Chihiro seemed to have no idea of what lay on the other side of the hills, no idea whatsoever that he had betrayed the trust she had once placed in him and lied straight to her lovely face. Relief washed over him then, relief that she was going to stay. Yet it only intensified his feeling of guilt.

He stood there, for once in his life completely unsure of how to deal with the situation- namely the fact that the person he had given his heart to was standing as far away from him as possible, shedding tears at an alarming rate. He could deal with Chihiro as a child. She had been so helpless the first time that she had come into the spirit world that his instincts had screamed at him to help her, to calm her down, just as his instincts had kicked in when she had fallen into his river and nearly lost her life. There had been something in her then, so frightened and purely innocent, that his desire to assist her and do what he could to help her get home had kicked in automatically. But the years that she had been gone, while only a drop in the ocean of his life, had obviously affected her. Those days had changed her into something new that he had not expected; Chihiro was so much stronger, for all that she was having a fit at the moment. He had watched her so often of late that he could see the difference between what she was now and what she had been like before as clearly as day.

It nearly made him cry when he realized that he did not know her any longer.

Haku pulled a handkerchief out of the pocket in his shirt and offered it to her. It had always been his favorite, barely tinted blue with swirls of water stitched on some of the edges. He had found it in his river one day and kept it ever since. Desperately, he walked a couple of paces towards the crying girl and offered it to her, wondering if he should ask her for an explanation. After a moment, he did. "Chihiro, why are you crying?"

As the gods of luck would have it, his soft question only made her sob all the more.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Well, at least he had asked her why she was standing on the top of a hill sobbing like there was no tomorrow. She took the handkerchief from his hand and began mopping her face with it, wondering how she would answer him. How could she explain that it was a mix of everything- the fact that she missed her parents, and her friends Umi and Yuna; she missed her whole lifestyle; the fact that she was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to be left alone and to sleep for a month, that she was hurt deeply every time the master of Aburaya spoke to her so icily, that she didn't know why she cared as much as she did, that the nightmare had scared her silly, and because she had no one except Rin, who was too busy to be worried over a simple nightmare in the first place, to tell about her nightmare. Besides, she didn't know if spirits dreamt anyway! All the stress and the emotions that had been building up ever since she had left her world had just stirred within her until Haku had been the one to break the dam and release the flood of anxiety. She cried for a while in complete silence, feeling better and more in control of her emotions with each passing minute. Finally, Chihiro wiped her face a final time with the now sopping handkerchief and gave it back to Haku. 

Had she been in a better mood, Chihiro would have laughed at the expression on Haku's face. He stood staring at her in complete bewilderment, and it was apparent that he did not have the slightest clue of what to do with her.

There was something in Haku's eyes, just a shadow deep within the emerald orbs that made her feel uncomfortable. The feeling that she knew Haku very well came back to her full force, leaving her more confused than ever.

For there, in the normally expressionless depths, was pain, worry, and… love.

The two stood staring at one another for what seemed like an eternity. A slight breeze lifted Haku's hair and blew it across his face; but his eyes seemed to pass through the locks to bore into her own. It felt as though time had stopped. There was nothing in the world but the two of them, standing atop a green hill under the warm rays of the afternoon sun.

Something passed between them then. A feeling of peace washed over her, though she hurt deep within her heart at the same time. Chihiro's mind swam with emotion until she thought her head would explode. More confused than ever, she tore her eyes from his and turned, heading back to the bathhouse at a run.

It scared her more than anything, the realization that had dawned on her as she looked into his eyes that had suddenly held such emotion.

She loved him.


	8. Of a Lack of Patrons and a Threat

A/N: I know it's been forever, sorry about that! But I am leaving for Seattle in a week to visit my grandmother (we have to stay in a shrimpy little room in her retirement home, save me!), but I'm taking my computer so I shall escape her and write for a while. So, I hope to update again within two weeks. This goes slowly because I have to be very careful of what I say as the pieces are starting to fall together now. ;-) 

Disclaimer: I do not own this, as I am quite sure you already know.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chihiro stormed back through Aburaya, for once not caring that she was making noise. There were sleepy mumbles of annoyance from the rooms that she had just passed, heels thumping loudly on the polished wood floors. She shot into the room she shared with Rin and all the others and dove under her comforter, where she lay, breathing hard with the effort. Her little white kodama friend came from where it had been sitting on the balcony and poked her nose to see if she was well. The human girl stroked it distractedly, still unable to get Haku out of her mind.

It seemed to take forever before anyone awoke. As soon as she heard the first person stirring and beginning to awaken, she jumped up and began folding her blanket and sleeping mat. Since most of the spirits were still asleep and she couldn't get over to the cupboards, she stacked them neatly in the middle of her sleeping space. The kodama sat atop he nearly folded pile, clicking at her. "I really ought to name you," Chihiro muttered, then turned and picked her way out of the room to go get breakfast.

The spirit serving it blinked at her sleepily and solemnly handed over two bowls of food. She nodded and went back upstairs, where she found, much to her annoyance, that everyone else was still asleep. Scowling, Chihiro stood in the doorway and surveyed the sleeping spirits. An insistent clicking from the balcony drew her attention. She set down the food and stepped out into the cool evening air.

The kodama was hopping up and down like mad, pointing down at the train tracks. Chihiro leaned out and stared down at the tracks, unsure of what she was supposed to be seeing. After a moment, she turned her head to the kodama, who had stopped hopping but still stared intenly down, its mouth a little 'O'. "What? There's nothing there…"

The kodama began hopping again, and clicking in a way that somehow conveyed assent. Chihiro blinked, and turned to stare at the tracks again. After a moment, it finally dawned on her what the problem was. 

The train came by, at exactly the same time every evening, tooting its whistle just loud enough to wake everyone up, or at least awaken the light sleepers, who proceeded to wake everyone else up. The train should have come by now. It was always on time, not a single day that Chihiro had worked at Aburaya had it been late. And it simply wasn't there.

The sound of a foreman's voice echoed throughout the building. "HEY! WHERE IS EVERYONE? GET DOWN HERE AND CLEAN, NOW!"

The spirits shot up out of bed, awakened suddenly but not yet awake. Chihiro hurried over to Rin, turning her back on the setting sun. "I have our breakfast, Rin. It's a bit cold, though."

Rin yawned hugely. "Thanks. Mmm, smells go-"

"**_NOW!_**"

They didn't even bother to put their stuff away. The spirits and human girl stood up as one and shot out of the room and down the stairs, Chihiro pausing only to grab the kodama and place it on her shoulder. When they got to the ground floor, they found a line of foremen glaring at them as they began cleaning.

"We're docking your pay!" one yelled.

"I can't believe we all overslept!" Rin moaned. "That isn't nice!"

It took them almost no time at all to clean that evening, especially considering they all had foremen leering over their shoulders the entire time. Pillows were set out; floors were scrubbed; elevators were checked. And once everything was acceptable, the workers of the bathhouse settled down to wait.

And wait.

And wait.

The spirits that waited outside the door every night glanced uncertainly back in at the rest of the workers, who had all gathered together at the door and were peering out. There was utter silence, though an air of confusion wound its way though all there. It was well past time for the patrons of the bathhouse to have come, and not a single one was in sight.

"Why is everyone grouped around the doorway?" a clam voice demanded. As one, the spirits turned around to see who had spoken. 

Chihiro sucked her breath in as she laid eyes on him again. Each time she saw him her heart pounded all the more painfully, and guilt suddenly wracked her for running away from him earlier. She met his eyes only to see that he was looking at her even as he addressed the group of spirits.

"There are no spirits here, Master Haku," one spirit said.

"The train doesn't seem to be running either," another volunteered.

Silence reigned once more. After a moment, Haku spoke again. "All of you, come inside. If they have not come by now, it is highly unlikely that they will come this night."

The spirits of Aburaya wandered off slowly, confused to no end and unsure of what to do with their suddenly free time. Chihiro stayed right where she was, though they jostled her quite a bit. But she did not move, eyes set on Haku, who was making sure that everyone went off somewhere else.

"Wait!" one of the remaining spirits cried, staring out of the doorway. "Someone is coming!"

Those remaining dashed over to the door. Sure enough, there was a large group of spirits on the march. The beings that manned the restaurants that composed the town were acting oddly, closing their doors, though the lights still remained on. Chihiro squinted; she could just tell that they did not look like the spirits that normally came. There were forty, fifty of them there, and all bore sour looks on their unusual faces.

The few workers left stayed where they were and prepared to greet the guests, Chihiro and Haku included. The patrons were walking quickly, and reached Aburaya in very little time. "We wish to speak with the Master of this bathhouse," hissed the foremost spirit, a dragon with scales of a deep green color that shimmered when he moved.

Haku stepped forward. "I am the acting Master of Aburaya."

The dragon bared his teeth in a sneer. "Where is your master?" it demanded. "You are nothing but her apprentice."

"She has left me in charge of this bathhouse. State your business or begone." Chihiro had never seen Haku this snappy. He looked like he was ready to pounce on the spirits if they made one wrong move, though Chihiro could not figure out why. She wisely decided to keep her mouth shut.

"Then we shall take up our business with you," growled the spirit to murmurs of assent from all the rest assembled behind him. "You defy the ruled of the Spirit World and give refuge to humans," it said.

Haku remained silent.

"Humans never have been welcomed in our world, and for just reasons. They pollute our oceans and rivers, rape and defile our land, take what rightfully belongs to us, and kill us every instant that they live. To allow one to live here is unspeakable."

Chihiro shrunk back with every word that the spirit said, and Haku moved slightly so that he was shielding here. "You traveled all this way to tell me this, that I already know?" he asked icily, emerald eyes sharp as he glared at the dragon.

"No," the dragon said. "We come to kill the human and take you, who allow it to stay here, to appease the demon that is alive because of it and all of its kind, the demon that destroys our world."


End file.
